Due to lack of access to Nepali telecommunication services in Chudoli village of Rupal area under Bhageshwor Rural Municipality-2 of Dadeldhura, local residents have been forced to rely on Indian SIM cards for years.

The daily life of the villagers has become chaotic due to the need to rely on foreign networks even though they are in Nepal.

Locals say that due to the non-availability of Nepal Telecom services in the Chudoli area, they have faced major problems ranging from phone contact, internet use to general work.

Rajan Bhatta, a local from Chudoli, said that the lack of network in the village causes problems in daily work performance. According to him, due to the weak signal, people have to go far to pick up the phone, make contact or use the internet. 

He says that while living in the village, they are not allowed to make calls from inside the house and sometimes they are forced to reach the nearby hills to get a signal. According to him, most of the villagers are outside the reach of Nepal Telecom's network and internet.

Another local, Tekraj Giri, also said that due to the lack of network, access to information, services and facilities in the village is very poor. He says that when an incident, accident or emergency occurs in the village, it is difficult to contact the concerned agencies or relatives.

Hikmat Joshi of Bhageshwor Rural Municipality-2 says that the lack of network has directly affected the students' studies. He has experienced that daily homework, searching for study materials through the Internet, and participating in online classes have been affected due to the lack of network. He said that the lack of electricity service in the village has also caused more problems.

Local youth leader Khagaraj Joshi says that coordination between the local level, telecom and the central government is necessary to solve the village's problems in the long term. He complains that even though the locals have been raising their voices for years, they have not been listened to. He said that they have to go to the hills of the village to search for a network, change the SIM circle and become dependent on the SIM card of an Indian service provider, and that business activities are affected due to the low speed of the internet.

Birendra Singh Thapa, Information Officer and Engineer of Nepal Telecom Telecommunications Office, Dadeldhura, said that the service disruption in the Chudoli area is a technical problem seen on the Dageshwori Microwave Line. According to him, the service has not been regular due to technical weaknesses, geographical challenges and delays in upgrading work. 

Thapa said that the work is being carried out to resolve the problem by completing the necessary processes within this financial year. He also said that citizens of the area have been receiving complaints from time to time. He informed that the office is working to address the complaints of citizens.